Used to the Cold
by mindprisoner
Summary: Victor offered to share a bed the first time they'd met. Yuri refused, but the winter chill is starting to get to him. Can a cold night thaw a budding romance?


Yuri tucked his blanket underneath him, trying to keep out the cold air that seemed hell-bent on turning him into an icicle. According to the news, the temperatures were reaching record lows tonight. Yuri briefly thought about getting up to grab a blanket, and decided against it, since that would mean getting up and walking through the cold room, and it would hurt his sore body. All the time he had spent on the ice training for competitions didn't prepare him for the kind of cold that only hits at night, when everything is still.

That had always been Yuri's least favorite part of ice skating; the cold. The cold when you first enter the rink, before you really start moving and warm yourself up. The cold that _really_ hits in all the thin flashy costumes competitive ice skaters wear. The cold that freezes sweat to your skin and makes it harder to lift the heavy skates off the ice. Honestly, Yuri had always believed that he put on weight so fast to offset the chill.

Not that Yuri had any insulating fat after Victor had introduced his grueling workout routine. He was all lean muscle now, lean muscle that got cold way too easy. Yuri had taken to wearing two coats when he first stepped into the rink each morning, stripping down to a thin exercise shirt as the day wore on. But Yuri had never seen Victor wear anything but a loose t-shirt on the ice. It could be because Victor never fell, and Yuri made solid contact with the ice a few times a day, which never did any wonders for Yuri's body temperature.

Yuri heard a soft knock at his door, derailing his train of thought. He poked his head out from under the blanket and eyed the door, just visible in the soft moonlight. Yuri waited a few seconds, and heard nothing else, so he snuggled back down underneath the covers and tried to keep warm. The knock sounded again, and Yuri ignored it, blaming the sound on his own exhausted mind.

"Yuri, Yuri, are you awake?" A quiet whisper caught Yuri's attention, and he was once again looking at the door, waiting for another sound. "I figured you would be cold, so I brought some blankets."

Yuri was so excited at the thought of more blankets he could've cried. "Um, sure!" Yuri whispered back. "Come on in." Yuri sat up, wrapping the blanket tight around him. The door slip open and Victor padded in, carrying a stack of blankets in his arms. Victor dropped them on the bed next to Yuri, and Yuri's jaw nearly hit the floor when he realized that Victor was shirtless.

"Hmm?" Victor hummed. "Is something wrong, little piggy?" Yuri was both confused and horrified with how comfortable Victor seemed in the freezing room. Victor wasn't so much as wrapping his arms around himself for warmth, meanwhile Yuri shivered under his blanket, and quickly spread the ones Victor had brought over him.

"Just cold," Yuri replied, hoping to get Victor to leave as soon as possible so he could get some much needed rest.

Victor sat down on the bed next to Yuri. "What's a professional ice skater cold for?" He played with the corner of a blanket idly, glancing around the room. "It's not much colder than the rink."

"I get to move around in the rink. All I'm doing now is trying to go to sleep," Yuri said, hoping that Victor would get the hint and leave. Yuri laid back and curled underneath all his new blankets, frowning at how they hadn't warmed up yet. He shivered involuntarily, and instantly knew that Victor had seen him shake.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Still cold?" Yuri pretended to be asleep. "I know you're not asleep; you're shivering, Yuri."

Yuri furrowed his brow, wondering what he would have to do to get some peace and sleep. Yuri sighed as the blankets finally warmed up, wiggling down into the warmth. Maybe Victor had finally left him alone, Yuri thought. He settled down and began to drift off to sleep. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt an arm drape over him.

Yuri rolled over and realized that Victor had decided to act as a space heater. Victor had laid down next to him in a position dangerously close to spooning. "Victor! What are you doing?" Yuri hissed in a whisper.

Victor cracked one eye open. "Keeping you warm," He hummed. Yuri opened his mouth to protest. "Don't even say anything, piggy; you stopped shivering as soon as I laid down." With that, Victor closed his eye and evened out his breathing.

Yuri rested stiffly, feeling Victor's chest press up against his back, and, as much as he was afraid to admit it to himself, it was the most comfortable Yuri had felt in a long time. Slowly, Yuri's stress and chill melted away into Victor and the two accidentally synced up their breathing. Neither of them wanted to fall asleep, wanting to feel close to the other for the rest of the night, not that either man would admit it.

It was amazing how quickly Yuri had come out of his shell, Victor thought. Just a few short weeks earlier, Yuri had been afraid to even be in the same room as Victor, regarding the man as some sort of alien celebrity rather than a coach. Now Yuri was treating him more like a friend, and Victor wondered how long it would take to move their relationship to the next level. Victor kept trying to break the ice with some good humored flirting, but all that seemed to do was make Yuri uncomfortable, if it didn't sail right over his head.

Victor had almost decided that Yuri just wasn't into _anyone_ , not men, women, or anyone in between. The shirtless blanket idea was a last shot for wooing the man. In hindsight, Victor probably shouldn't've led with a full nude introduction. If he had known how shy Yuri was, he would've gone for something a little subtler, like flowers. Regardless, the way Yuri relaxed against his chest made Victor wonder if Yuri could feel his heart race. He sure hoped not; Victor had a suave persona he had to maintain. But still, Victor had never fallen this hard for anyone before.

Yuri had always been oblivious to flirting, usually only realizing that someone had been hitting on him hours, or even days, later. However, Victor made it pretty damn obvious that he was flirting with Yuri, and nearly everything with a heartbeat, for that matter. Even Yuri had picked up on that. Yuri had always assumed that it was just part of Victor's image, since he had even been known to flirt with reporters in interviews, and many of his routines involved a few sultry looks towards the judges. Victor was the playboy of male figure skating; he had been for nearly a decade.

He'd never let himself say it out loud, but Yuri had been crushing on Victor since the first time Yuko had shown him a video of Victor's skating. He'd only seen the man a few times in person at the Grand Prix, always too nervous or ashamed to speak to him. And now Yuri was literally wrapped in Victor's arms. Yuri had never wished that he could control his heartbeat more than now. Not that Victor could _ever_ know. Or care. Yuri was probably just a way for Victor to stay relevant after his retirement.

Yuri could only wish that Victor genuine with his constant flirting.

Victor could only hope that Yuri saw him as more than a celebrity coach.

Each was in love with the other.


End file.
